


And It All Settles

by CheetahLeopard2



Series: Gifts and also what I'm doing instead of working on my others [47]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Family Relations, Healthy Polyamory, Multi, mental health
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-15
Updated: 2018-03-15
Packaged: 2019-03-31 13:28:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13976094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CheetahLeopard2/pseuds/CheetahLeopard2
Summary: After they get together there  few last hurdles to clear





	And It All Settles

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nightshade002](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nightshade002/gifts), [AlannaRose](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlannaRose/gifts), [Blackthornsbriar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blackthornsbriar/gifts).



> I had this up in my store but it looks like no one would ever have bought it anyway...

 

Keiji is silent as he walks down the carpeted hallway towards the kitchen, pausing as soon as he hears his name, “-’s parents don’t even approve of us. Instead of speaking up he ran away. Does he really care enough about us?” 

Tetsurou’s words cut through him like a knife, and Keiji feels a sliver of glass dig into his heart.

“He’s been distancing himself from us more and more the last few weeks…” Koutarou’s voice trails off as though into thought.

Keiji wants to walk into the room to explain that he’s been taking more shifts at work to save up for a trip to surprise them, and plead for them not to leave him, but his feet are frozen to the floor and his throat is closing up.

“He has, and it’s gotten to the point where he’s changed I think,” Kenma’s voice is more even than Keiji would have ever wanted in this scenario.

“He didn’t even want to go to his grandmother’s funeral,” Tetsurou agrees, and Keiji wants so badly to remind them that his grandmother is homophobic.

But does he really know that? Keiji experiences a moment of confusion and the scene glitches out, and then Keiji is back to staring at the white paint of the apartment wall as he blinks back tears, desperately willing his feet to move or his throat to work or  _ anything _ . 

“I don’t think I love him anymore,” Koutarou’s words are final, and with the affirmations of the other two the sliver pierces through his heart, and Keiji is finally able to take a step backwards, maneuvering the bedroom door so that it squeaks, and the voices abruptly cut off, and Keiji makes his way noisily down the hallway.

"Keiji," Koutarou's voice is soft. Of course it is, if he's about to do what Keiji thinks- knows- he is.

Tetsurou and Kenma are there too, they have him cornered.

Keiji knows full well that they were waiting for him to come into the kitchen and start boiling water before they brought it up. After all, they hadn't even bothered to lower their voices as Keiji came down the hallway, only quieting when Keiji went back and made sure his footsteps were loud. 

Now, Keiji’s fingers tremble as he stirs in the instant coffee powder, “Yeah?” 

He hates how his voice refuses to tremble. Even as he can sense his world falling apart around him.

“You don’t fit here anymore.” Kenma says, blunter than Keiji should have imagined.

“I understand,” Keiji says, softly so his voice doesn’t break.

His tears begin to cloud his vision, and Keiji wonders how he thought this would ever work.

He blinks, and wakes up.

 

It’s a peaceful morning, and there is a stifling silence that Keiji had grown used to, as a resident of the Akaashi household at the same time as his grandmother. It’s a silence of pressuring traditions, and sometimes Keiji has to remind himself there’s an escape from it. 

Speaking of...

His phone vibrates beside his head. 

Keiji allows himself a smile before he reaches for it.

**In “TO VOLLEY OR NOT TO VOL...”**

**Kou-san**

Hey hey hEY

 

**PITA Tetsu-san**

Hey hey yourself

 

**Kenma**

We get it it’s summer and we can wake up whenever we want

THAT DOSENT MEAN TEXTING AT FUCKING 2 AM

 

**PITA Tetsu-san**

Sorry did we wake you up kitten?

 

**Kenma**

Boss battle. 

Stop texting

 

**Kou-san**

Ey ey sorry Kenma!!!

 

And then the message that had him reach for his phone.

 

**Kenma**

K im done

 

**Kou-san**

Congrats Kenma!!!!

 

**PITA Tetsu-san**

*potassium 

 

**Me**

You nerd

 

**PITA Tetsu-san**

YOURE IN THE SAME MATH CLASS AS KOU AND /IM/ THENER D?

 

**Kenma**

*THE NERD

 

**PITA Tetsu-san**

kENmA

 

**Me**

I agree with Kenma, kindly fuck off Tetsurou

 

**PITA Tetsu-san**

THEY DIDNT SAY THAT

 

**Kenma**

Better fix that

Fuck off kuro

 

**PITA Tetsu-san**

I AM 

OUTRAGED 

INSULTED

…

KOU HELP A BOY OUT WILLYA?

 

**Kou-san**

SHOCKED

BETRAYED

 

**PITA Tetsu-san**

FLABBERGASTED

 

Keiji rolls his eyes with a huff of a laugh and sets his phone, still vibrating as they send increasingly ridiculous words to the group chat, down on the bed so he can get dressed for the day.

\---

His parents aren't home from their Europe trip yet, and wouldn't be for another week, so Keiji's grandmother is staying with him. Keiji isn't sure where she stands on lgbtqia+ issues, so he's planning on bringing it up gently, in a way that she couldn't connect him to the community.

This is his last school day of his first year, and Keiji wants to be able to introduce his boyfriends to his grandmother and, when they return, his parents, so they can hang out at his house during summer break.

His house is objectively the nicest of them all, mainly because it's regularly cleaned and the garden in the back is well maintained.

Keiji used to spend a lot of time in the garden, some of his earliest memories being of him sitting in front of the lilacs, staring as the light turned them beautiful shades of purple and inhaling their fragrance.

Keiji blinks away his thoughts and combs through his closet to find a black button down to replace the shirt he slept in. The shirt is one Koutarou and Tetsurou had given him as a gag gift shortly after they all got together, and emblazoned across the front in rainbow lettering was "Hoot hoot you're CUTE". Keiji will forever deny that he likes and wears the shirt, because Kenma would never let him live it down and Koutarou and Tetsurou would get all sappy.

Keiji shivers as the cool air of his room hits his back and buttons up the shirt he picked up, leaving the top two buttons undone and rolling up the sleeves before tugging on blue jeans.

Tetsurou and Koutarou are the type of people to trip while putting on their clothes in the morning, Keiji reflects.

Tetsurou because he would set his alarm early enough for him to still stay in bed, only to stay in bed too long and have to rush to get ready. And Koutarou because he'd try to put both legs of his pants on at the same time and jump, only to get all tangled up and have to hop around until he inevitably falls.

Keiji huffs a laugh and turns to make his bed before heading to the bathroom to brush his teeth.

When Keiji heads down the stairs to the kitchen, he finds his grandmother already sitting at the island, reading a book as she idly stirs her tea.

"Hello grandmother, how did you sleep?" Keiji asks, heading directly for the coffee machine.

"Fine thank you, Keiji." she says, not looking up from her book and taking a sip of her tea after she says it, as though the minimal amount of speaking had dried out her throat.

Keiji hums and takes his phone from his pocket as he leans against the counter, the coffee machine boils water behind him.

 

**In "TO VOLLEY OR NOT TO VO.."**

**PITA Tetsu-san**

im just sayin if Keiji were ghosting hedve stopped us by now

**Kou-san**

I mean,,,

ur not wrong

**PITA Tetsu-san**

*gasssppp* what if

SOMETHING /HAPPENED/ TO HIM

**Kenma**

hes probably getting ready

drama queen

 

Keiji smiles at that, typing a reply when his grandmother happens to look up.

"Keiji," she grins, and  _ oh  _ Keiji doesn't trust that at all, "what's making you smile at your phone like that? Could it perhaps be," she puts a hand to her mouth and looks around, as though she were about to tell a secret, "A  _ girl _ ?"

Keiji quickly derails his grandmother's train of thought, "Nothing like you're thinking, grandmother, Kenma just made a joke."

"Kenma, eh?" Keiji's grandmother's grin grows into a smirk, "Does this _ Kenma, _ " Keiji's not sure he like how she says their name, "make you smile like that often?"

Keiji hesitates, having the feeling he doesn't want to answer, but seeing no way around it, "I... suppose so."

Keiji's grandmother nods, "Are you dating her yet?"

Keiji chokes on thin air, and the coffee machine chooses that moment to have pity on him and starts streaming coffee into Keiji's mug.

"Don't worry, Keiji," his grandmother says when he walks over to the refrigerator to grab an apple and some leftover rice, "she can't be very smart if she doesn't want you as a boyfriend."

Keiji forces a smile, "Thank you grandmother."

"Anytime, Keiji."

Keiji sits next to her and takes a sip of his coffee, which he nearly spits right back out when she says, "So? Are you going to tell me about her?"

"What?" he coughs out.

"Are you going to tell me about Kenma?" she repeats, watching Keiji struggle to breath regularly again, even as his heart tries to pound its way out of his chest.

"Well," Keiji begins, carefully, "Kenma is very quiet, and loves video games. Is even thinking of developing one in college. Th- Kenma is very smart, and also very sassy once you get close. Kenma once even sassed Tetsurou into kneeling on the ground crying about his humanity." Keiji's lips twitch, "It was very amusing."

"Tetsurou?" Keiji's grandmother questions.

"He's. Well.." Keiji hesitates again, feeling as though he's toeing a line that can't be uncrossed by talking about his partners to his grandmother, "He's certainly something. He's a year older than me, and is in college prep courses. He loves chemistry."

Keiji's grandmother stops him with a hand on his arm, "these are very objective things Keiji, do you not like him?"

Keiji bites back the urge to brush her hand off and the  _ "it's more like I like him more than you might think is socially acceptable"  _ and replies with, "I do like him. He is very nice and tries his best to 'impart his wisdom' upon others when he thinks it will help them. He tutors me sometimes, actually." Keiji feels that that's a good time to stop, because he had almost blurted out that he loves those study sessions, because often times Tetsurou will hold his hand as he works, and kiss Keiji's cheek when he gets an answer right, and his hand when he gets one wrong.

"What's his relation to Kenma?" his grandmother questions, startling Keiji into losing the battle to keep his blush down.

"They're... dating." Keiji says, hiding his face by taking another sip of his coffee in hopes that the steam will be a reasonable excuse for his reddened face.

His grandmother makes a noise of sympathy and pats Keiji's back, "I'm sorry you're pining after a taken girl."

Keiji snorts into his coffee cup.

"What's so funny dear?" she asks.

"I'm not pining after anyone," he says bluntly,  _ I'm already dating them _ going unspoken, and his grandmother blinks in surprise.

"I thought you had a thing for Kenma," she stutters, "Seeing as she makes you smile like that."

Keiji finishes his rice and goes to wash off his dish, being saved by his phone ringing in his pocket.

"Hello?" he answers.

"Hey hey hEY Keiji!"  _ ugh. Morning people.  _ At least Keiji can sense Koutarou's smile through the phone.

"Hey Kou."

"I woke up late, so I can't walk with you to school, sorry!!"

"It's the last day," Keiji says in disbelief, "But that's fine, I'll see you at school."

"Love you Keiji!" Koutarou says, voice impossibly soft even as it's so enthused.

"I love you too," Keiji says, before ending the call.

Keiji turns to see his grandmother staring at him with a grin overtaking her features, "Kou must be a beautiful lady to have you as her boyfriend."

Keiji's had enough of her meddling for the day, and looks at the clock, "I have to go, grandmother. Have a nice day."

Her, "Don't think we're finished with this!" follows him out the door.

\---

"Keiji!" Koutarou's voice echos as he steps inside the gym, and Keiji smiles.

 

"Hey Koutarou?"

"Hm?"

"Do you want to come over after school? My grandmother should be at book club for a few hours, so we don't have to deal with her."

"Sounds like a plan!"

 

\---

 

"I'm home!" Keiji calls when he walks inside, knowing full well the house is empty but wanting to be sure. After there's no return call of, "welcome home!" Keiji gestures to Kou to come in and switch out his shoes for a pair of slippers.

Keiji has a pair of generic inside slippers for each of his partners, hidden behind the shoe rack until his parents come home.

"Come on, let's go to my room," Keiji beckons for Koutarou to follow him.

When they step into Keiji's bedroom, the first thing Koutarou does is go for the bed, turning to face Keiji and flopping back with a sigh of relief. Then he quirks a brow at Keiji  _ wow is that even legal?  _ and waves at him to come closer. When Keiji complies, Koutarou grabs his hand and tugs Keiji down next to him and laughs at Keiji's yelp of surprise.

"Cuddle time!" Koutarou proclaims, wrapping his arms around Keiji.

They fall asleep wrapped up in each other and feeling calmer than they have in weeks, even if the other two parts of their hearts aren't there. And Keiji doesn't dream.

Keiji comes back to consciousness about an hour later. For a moment he just lays there, enjoying the heavy warmth that has seeped into his bones. His eyes slide open after a moment with no resistance, and Keiji knows that this is the easiest he’s rested since his parents left for their trip. He watches as, only a few feet but seeming a mile away, the curtains dance in the slight breeze filtering through the cracked open window, shadows shifting on the walls. 

Keiji tries to reach out his hand to put his hand in the breeze, only to find it’s stuck against his side, and when he extends his senses to his other arm, he finds that there’s a comfortable weight on it and a buzzing about it that tells him it’s going to be numb when he moves it.

 Keiji cranes his neck to look above him, and is struck again by just how beautiful Koutarou can be.

The sunlight dances across his features, making white hair seem impossibly bright and giving black hair an almost purple sheen. His features are relaxed, and Keiji wants to know how he can keep Koutarou that serene all the time.

Although, Keiji reflects, if Koutarou were this calm all the time he wouldn’t be himself. And that’s the last thing Keiji wants, he’d miss Koutarou being Koutarou. So he settles on enjoying Koutarou as he is right now, and as he is on the regular, as Keiji falls in love all over again.

As gently as possible, Keiji pulls one of his arms away and pulls out his phone, pausing at every possible moment Koutarou would wake up.

Mission accomplished, Keiji takes a couple photos and sends them to the group.

Which backfires as Koutarou's phone vibrates, drawing Koutarou into the world of the conscious.

Koutarou's eyes open slowly, golden pools of open love and trust that Keiji finds himself drowning in.

He doesn't mind it.

"Hey," Koutarou whispers, and Keiji leans in close for a kiss, drawing back afterwords with a serene smile.

"Hey yourself."

They lay there for another 36 minutes, basking in each other's company.

\---

When they eventually get up, it's because Keiji still has to pack for the sleepover they'd planned at Tetsurou's for the first night of summer.

"Alright," Keiji says finally, everything he needs to live stuffed in a duffel.

They head down the stairs holding hands, which, in retrospect, was not the smartest idea.

Who knew something so insignificant could ruin things so badly?

 

Keiji's grandmother stares at them, confusion quickly giving way to a flash of emotions before settling on cold fury swirling in the pits of her irises.

"Get out." she says, sounding more tired than anything else, an illusion that was quickly ruined when she practically screams the words at them a few seconds later.

Keiji turns back and bows at her once they're out the door, "I hope you resolve your bigoted ways."

She slams the door.

Koutarou squeezes Keiji's hand as they walk to the station. A gesture of comfort as well as support. A bit nervous, as though Koutarou thinks it’s his fault.

Keiji doesn’t hesitate to squeeze back, a thanks.

And a reassurance.

\---

Koutarou is the one to knock, the door opening almost before he pulls his hand away.

It’s Kenma at the door, and his gold eyes lock with Keiji’s.

Heh, gold. All of Keiji’s partners, while all physically very different for the most part, all have golden eyes. That’s one trait he could list as attractive then, Keiji almost laughs. 

Kenma kisses Koutarou’s cheek first, then takes a few confident steps towards Keiji and stopping. No- not stopping- hesitating. Keiji gives them as large a smile as he can muster, which honestly is probably pretty pathetic, and Kenma breaches the distance to hug him. 

Keiji had noticed Koutarou on his phone on the train, but hadn’t really thought anything of it. They been filled in by Koutarou via text during the train ride as Keiji stared resolutely forward.

There's certain symbolism in that, Keiji reflects, looking forward, to spending a good week with his boyfriends, and not looking back on how his grandmother reacted. Hopefully his parents will have a better reaction.

For now, instead of worrying about what his parents will think, Keiji buries his face in Kenma's hair, immersing himself in the familiar, the safe.

Keiji hears Tetsurou's equally familiar gait approaching and then there's another set of arms wrapping around the two of them and a comforting warmth at his back.

After a moment, Keiji releases Kenma and leans back into Tetsurou, a silent prompt to be released. And after a final reassuring squeeze, he is.

"So," Keiji begins, "what're we doing this week?"

He's not going to talk about what happened with his grandmother anytime soon.

Honestly, Keiji is almost unnerved by how little he cares, even though he knows it's because despite spending upwards a month with the woman, they weren't close. All that she had really done was complain about how Keiji's generation "has it easy" and ask about girls.

In all honesty, Keiji's surprised that she found out the way she did and not through Keiji's patience snapping and him sassing her.

As it is, Keiji's happy with the knowledge that even if she disowns him, his parents aren't likely to, even if only because he's their only child.

Kenma picks up on his unwillingness, and grabs his hand to lead him into the house with an explanation that the senior Kuroos wouldn't be home until late.

\---

Tetsurou was excited.

Not the “oh there’s a practice match/it’s a tournament” excited.

He’s  _ excited _ . “I’m having my partners over and we’re going to spend the entire first week of summer break together”  _ excited. _

He says as much to Kenma at lunch, taking the opportunity to nab an onigari from Kenma’s bento while they roll their eyes. 

“Tetsurou,” they chide, and Tetsurou grins at them, too hyped up to regret anything.

Kenma sighs, “”Calm down a bit, would you? Time won’t go any faster with your whining.” 

“It won’t go any slower either!” Tetsurou counters, grin still firmly in place.

And it’s true. Time is one of the inevitables, as a social construct based around the rotation of the earth around sun. No matter what anyone does, it won’t speed up, as Kenma said. But Tetsurou wasn’t wrong, it won’t slow either. Sure, it may seem like it at times, but the reality is, as long as the sun keeps spinning and the earth keeps rotating, it won’t ever stop its march forward.

Sometimes Tetsurou wishes he were more like the sun in that respect. It’s kind of ridiculous, aiming to be more like a flaming ball of gas that just spins as it drifts aimlessly through space, it’s gravity keeping everything rotating around it. But Tetsurou thinks that it’s a noble goal, not related to the noble gases in the sun.

He sees it as aiming to always look forward, to bring joy and resources to others, and help life flourish.

Other times, Tetsurou realizes how much responsibility that can be. Take Koutarou, who Tetsurou often relates to the sun in his mind. He has breakdowns when he overthinks what he sees, perhaps subconsciously, as his duty, and is so busy looking forward that he often doesn’t take a step backwards to get where he needs to go, instead taking a break.

And yet Koutarou is one of the most responsible people Tetsurou knows, and the best at brightening people’s days and one of the most amazing motivators Tetsurou’s ever witnessed, even from the other side of the net.

Kenma pulls him out of his thoughts when they make a swipe at his bento, “And,” they pause, looking Tetsurou directly in his eyes, “You better not be even thinking of skipping practice.”

Tetsurou squawks in indignation, “I would  _ never!”  _

Kenma takes advantage of his lapse in concentration to swipe some mackerel from Tetsurou’s bento.

“Wha- Hey! Kenma!”

 

Tetsurou might have to admit to himself that, for once in his life, he’s maybe rushing practice, just a little bit.

To be fair, Kenma also has a certain glint in their eyes that goes beyond their average determination to see everything through to the end. And it’s not just visible to just him.

Morisuke goes up to Kenma asking what game they’re getting, because he hadn’t seen anything new recently, and Taketora and Shouhei, despite not commenting on it, had begun to race Kenma in a silent show of happiness and support.

When practice  finally comes to an end, after the gym’s been cleaned, they both change out in record time.

“Why so eager to get the hell out of dodge?” Morisuke jokes as they slip on their outside shoes.

“Keiji and Kou are coming over,” Kenma says, perfectly blunt and yet vague enough to not be questioned.

Morisuke grins, “Ah, to be young and in love.”

“You’re only three months older than I am!” Tetsurou complains. He almost adds that he’s taller than Morisuke despite being younger than him, but the spark in Morisuke’s almost glare warns him not to try his luck when they’re on such good terms.

 They separate and Tetsurou and Kenma turn to each other to exchange a look once they’re on the train home for the last time that school year. 

It’s a look full of anticipation and happiness, but, most of all, love.

Once they get home, the first thing Kenma does is get out a game, while Tetsurou sets out a couple of futons.

Even if they probably won’t end up using them, it’s best to keep up appearances. 

Kenma just has… a lot of pent up energy. That’s probably not a good thing to keep when Koutarou and Tetsurou will inevitably bounce against each other and ramp each other up, at least for the first day.

Kenma has no doubt that he’s fine having a lot of energy around them, and doesn’t feel uncomfortable with displaying it around their boyfriends, but there’s the simple fact that if they retain it during the first time they meet up all four of them in about a month in person, Keiji will be the one having to reel them back. And Kenma doesn’t want to put all that responsibility on Keiji’s shoulders. 

It’s not that Kenma feels Keiji couldn’t handle them, but rather that they aren’t sure Keiji would  _ want _ to reel them back.

And really, Keiji is usually the responsible one, he deserves a chance to let loose.

Tetsurou finishes setting up the futons and settles on the bed behind Kenma, his mile-long legs stretched out on either side of them and they lean back against him, happy to be with him, and excited to be about to be joined by Keiji and Koutarou.

Kenma is, in that moment, is content despite a slight rolling in his stomach that he chalks up to nervousness.

But all happiness is temporary, proved again when Tetsurou and Kenma’s phones buzz.

Tetsurou checks his watch, “They should’ve just gotten on the train.”

Kenma hums, and Tetsurou smiles at the excited note hidden there.

 

**In “TO VOLLEY OR NOT TO VO…”**

**Kouuu**

Keiji’s grandmother found out

 

“Shit,” Tetsurou hisses, and Kenma hurriedly pulls out their phone.

They get the details from Koutarou, and not soon enough comes the knock on the door, which Kemna rushes to, Tetsurou sitting shell shocked for a moment longer.

He knows there are terrible, bigoted people out there, he just didn’t really expect any of their families to have that kind of reaction. 

For now, Tetsurou goes to wrap Keiji in a hug, and is thankful that it was Keiji’s grandmother and not his parents.

\---

A couple of movies later, after dinner (and Keiji and Kenma being banned from the kitchen) an echoed hoot interrupts Tetsurou and Koutarou’s debate about what kind of first years they might get going into the next year.

Keiji can see Tetsurou's shoulders shake with the effort not to laugh, and the way Kenma's eyelids flutter in an effort not roll their eyes, while Koutarou obliviously digs his phone out of his pocket.

"It's a message from my dad," Koutarou says, puzzled.

Koutarou's parents are divorced, and his father is remarried with a job that requires him to live in Kyoto, so Koutarou doesn't see him or hear from him often. Koutarou's mother is actually dating another woman (which his father isn't aware of), and they know he's in a relationship, just not with whom.

Koutarou eyes slowly come up to make eye contact with Keiji once he reads the message, blood draining from his face.

Tetsurou makes the connection first, looking between Keiji and Koutarou with growing horror, "No!" he gasps out.

Koutarou nods, looking sick.

Kenma motions for the phone, leaning over so Keiji can see the screen.

 

**Oto-san =|**

I just got an interesting call from Akaashi-kun's grandmother, I will be in Tokyo for a meeting tomorrow. We will talk then.

 

"Kou-" Keiji starts.

"Don't apologize, Keiji," how Koutarou manages to smile, Keiji will never understand, "He'd find out eventually."

Keiji frowns, but can tell Koutarou isn't going to let Keiji blame himself for this, and so lets it slide.

Kenma taps the back of Keiji’s hand, and Keiji turns it over, allowing Kenma to slide their own into his, entwining their fingers.

They all fall asleep tangled together on the couch after another movie, and despite the fact that his carefully constructed life might be beginning to crumble around him, Keiji couldn’t be more content.

The first day of summer break, Keiji wakes when his head is lifted off the shoulder of the the body next to him.

Mumbling a complaint, Keiji gives up on sleep when his eyes slide open to Koutarou smiling gently at him, making sure he has Keiji’s attention before bringing a finger to his lips and gesturing at Tetsurou, whose head is in Keiji’s lap, and Kenma, who’s curled on top of Tetsurou with their hand still in Keiji’s.

“Go back to sleep.” Koutarou whispers with a gentle smile, but that’s when Keiji loses his focus, because right there, in front of his (very blessed) eyes, Koutarou’s hair is down.

Keiji reaches out with his free hand, which Koutarou takes in his, and lets Keiji pull him closer, “What’s up?” 

“Your hair is down,” Keiji manages to croak out, and he eases his hand out of Kenma’s to run it through Koutarou’s hair, and Koutarou laughs at his stunned expression, “It’s so soft!”

Koutarou lets Keiji run his hands through his hair for a few minutes, before startling when a soft, “Cute,” splits the peaceful silence. 

Tetsurou tries to sit up, grunting in surprise when he can’t, and almost ends up rolling off the couch before Koutrou manages to stop his momentum. 

This, of course, wakes Kenma up. They blink with a yawn, “Good morning,” they say, before wincing, “I don’t feel good.”

That’s all the warning they get before Kenma bolts upright and dashes to the bathroom with speed usually reserved for the volleyball court.

“Shit,” Tetsurou gets out eloquently before he sits up, “Kitten!” he calls after Kenma, “You good?”

They get their answer in the sound of retching and wow, that’s not a good way to start the summer.

Koutarou and Tetsurou exchange a glance and Koutarou turns and heads to the bathroom while Tetsurou stands up and stretches, popping his back, “Come on, Keiji, let’s get breakfast ready.”

Keiji stands up, only to flop right back on the couch again with a scowl.

Tetsurou, clearly holding back a laugh, casts a questioning glance towards Keiji.

“My leg is asleep,” Keiji explains, glaring at the offending appendage.

“Looks like both of our setters are incapacitated,” Tetsurou laments, “Bad fortune lingers,” he continues with a sage nod.

Keiji swats his arm and Tetsurou laughs, his horribly endearing one that sounds like a cackling hyena.

Rolling his eyes and suppressing a fond, if exasperated, smile, Keiji starts to roll his ankle to get blood flowing, and feeling returns quickly enough.

“Breakfast,” he calmly reminds Tetsurou, who’s at some point during his laugh choked on air and is now coughing. 

“Right.” Tetsurou gets out after Keiji thumps his back a couple of times.

\---

Keiji’s thrown out of the kitchen again.

\---

Kenma hasn’t been able to leave the bathroom for two hours. 

Tetsurou stands from where he’s kneeling next to Kenma, and they all wince when Tetsurou reads off the thermometer, “38 degrees celsius.”

“I’ll get some blankets set up on the couch,” Koutarou says, dashing off.

“And I’ll find a bucket and put a trash bag in it,” Tetsurou sets the thermometer on the counter after rinsing it in hot water and heads off.

Keiji steps forwards and sits next to Kenma, handing them an aerosol can before sitting cross legged beside them, “For the smell of the toilet,” he explains.

“Thanks,” Kenma says, and wow, they sound  _ miserable _ . 

“Anytime, love.” Keiji replies, and starts to work his hands through Kenma’s hair, putting it up in a ponytail. 

Kenma lurches forward again, and Keiji winces with a soft sound of sympathy, his hand on Kenma’s back in a show of support.

“I think that was the last of it.” Kenma says, relief obvious in their voice, a few minutes later.

Keiji hums, “Hope so.”

Kenma reaches for the mouthwash on the counter and stands at the same time a hoot echos through the halls.

Kenma and Keiji exchange glances before heading to the sitting room, when Koutarou is on the couch with Tetsurou in his lap, phone in front of their twin frowns.

“What is it?” Keiji asks, wringing his hands in front of him.

“Dad.” Koutarou replies, uncharacteristically tight-lipped.

Keiji knows that Koutarou’s dad, when they meet up, often tells Koutarou he’s too loud,  which is one of the many, many reasons Keiji wouldn’t hesitate to punch Koutarou’s dad but he hadn’t realized that it had affected Koutarou to this extent.

Maybe affected isn’t the right word, but it’s not necessarily the  _ wrong _ one either.

It would be more accurate to say that Koutarou had realized how toxic his father was after he was given space away from him, and that he didn’t like one of Koutarou’s more prominent characteristics was a huge red flag, one of the first that Koutarou actually acknowledged.

But now whenever Koutarou is with his father, he’s incredibly low-key. The first time Koutarou was on the phone with him in front of Keiji, Keiji had checked to make sure Koutarou wasn’t sick.

Honestly, Keiji never wants Koutarou to feel the need to be like that again.

“What’s he saying?” Kenma asks, slipping past Keiji to go stand behind the couch, peering at the phone.

Keiji shakes himself out of his horror and goes to the couch, putting a hand on Kenma’s back and leaning so that he can see the phone.

 

**Oto-san**

I will be free in an hour. Meet me at the soba restaurant by Fukurodani Academy then.

 

Tetsurou’s scowl is even more prominent as he voices his thoughts, “Sure gave you a lot of warning and had consideration for your plans,” he scoffs.

Kenma nods, and Keiji notes that they’re shivering against his hand.

He gestures for Tetsurou and Koutarou to stand up and takes their spot on the couch, Kenma laying beside him with his head in Keiji’s lap, “You should both go.”

“What?” Koutarou asks after a moment of silence.

“Tetsurou can be there as emotional support,” Keiji explains.

“And it’ll make it more difficult for your father to manipulate you,” Kenma chips in, “I can’t go because I’m sick, and Keiji can’t go because he’s going to keep an eye on me.”

“Exactly,” Keiji chimes in.

\---

And so, about an hour later finds Koutarou and Tetsurou walking down a semi-crowded street, hands swinging between them as Tetsurou tries and succeeds in getting Koutarou to laugh. Tetsurou could almost be convinced it’s a normal date.

Until Koutarou brings them to a stop, going silent and making his face blank as possible (To see someone so expressive, so vibrant, subdued- Well, it’s an unsettling, terrifying facade) as they stand staring at the inviting opening of a restaurant.

“Fancy place,” Tetsurou tries to joke, “I think we might be too broke for this.”

“He’ll pay,” Koutarou’s voice is equally devoid of emotion, and Tetsurou forces down the wave of fury directed at Koutarou’s father. He has to be calm now, diplomatic.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Tetsurou asks, trying to give Koutarou a chance to back out, “I’m sure we could at least reschedule. 

 “No,” Koutarou says, “This is inevitable.”

But it isn’t they know. It’s nothing like the inevitables such as time.

It’s more that this has been a long time coming and there’s nothing they, in their mortal power, can do to completely stop it.

And so, together, they step forwards, their hands coming unlinked when Tetsurou goes to open the door.

Neither of them move to reconnect them. They won’t make the same mistake twice.

Inside, a kind man directs them to a booth in the corner, and Tetsurou distantly wishes him, and everyone else in customer service, the best of luck.

“Koutarou,” his father greets when they slide into the booth, eyes flickering dubiously to Tetsurou, “I didn’t know you were bringing company.”

Tetsurou’s eye ticks slightly in the irritation that generally accompanies someone speaking as though you aren’t there, but he he forces down a return barb and instead addresses Koutarou’s biological father politely, “Hello sir. Koutarou is staying at my house for the week, and I wasn’t raised to be so poor of a host as to have Koutarou go out alone while in my hospitality.”  _ To meet with you without my protection _ heavily implied, but ignored.

Koutarou’s father seems more interested in Tetsurou now that he knows that Koutarou is staying with him, “What did you say your name was?” Well, he’s now Scumbag-san to Tetsurou.

As easy as it would have been to respond with something along the lines of ‘I didn’t say my name’, Tetsurou checks his impulses, “Tetsurou.”

Scumbag-san raises an eyebrow, obviously waiting for Tetsurou to say his last name, and clearing his throat after it becomes clear Tetsurou isn’t going to share.

“You’re in high school now, correct?”

“I am,” Koutarou says, still subdued but in a way that makes it seem as though he’s just preoccupied with scanning through the menu.

Tetsurou knows better.

“How’s that going? Getting good grades before the year ends?” Scumbag-san seems like he couldn’t care less about the answer, just making small talk. Tetsurou takes a moment to remember the last time Koutarou had mentioned his father and school in the same breath.

It had to have been at the last training camp, as Morisuke and Akinori were discussing how their parents were always breathing down their necks when it came to grades, and Koutarou offhandedly mentioned that his father didn’t care about his grades, because if he did badly enough to warrant the attention Scumbag-san didn’t have to pay for college.

Tetsurou again reminds himself to take a deep breath and be courteous as Koutarou replies, “School already ended.”

Scumbag-san is saved from having to answer by a waiter coming by to take their orders.

After she leaves, there's a noticeable shift in tension as Scumbag-san leans forward.

"Koutarou," he begins, sparing a glance at Tetsurou and pausing, seemingly choosing his words carefully, "is what Akaashi-kun's grandmother said true?"

Koutarou opened his mouth to respond but then seemed to think better of it, and Tetsurou has a flash thought of Koutarou snapping and saying, "What? The part about me being in romantic relations with another man or the part where she went on about how being gay is a sin?"

But Koutarou doesn't say that, settling on a much more docile, "What did she say?"

Scumbag-san takes a breath and glances at Tetsurou before dropping his voice to a whisper, "I think you know."

"If it makes you uncomfortable that I'm here you can just say so," Tetsurou says mildly, rage unnoticeable in the words even as the way he's examining his fingernails is the only thing keeping him from verbally unleashing a lot of hurt on the man across from them.

Koutarou presses his knee against Tetsurou's under the table, a silent show of gratitude.

Scumbag-san takes a deep breath, and, side-eyeing Tetsurou the whole time, says slowly and deliberately, "She said," he glaces around, as though making sure no one could overhear the words he's about to say, as though he were the one the words put into jeopardy at the hands of bigoted people, and not Koutarou himself, "That you were," he gulps, making a slight disgusted sound at the back of his throat, " _ holding hands  _ with Akaashi-kun."

The waiter at that moment comes back to their table, bearing their food and a few to-go boxes for when they finish.

Tetsurou and Koutarou thank her as she sets down the food, while Scumbag-san sits staring at them, making it clear he's impatient for her to leave.

Tetsurou feels bad for her when she scurries off looking like she had just passed by an emotionally draining scenario.

Of course, the fact that this actually is an emotionally draining scenario doesn't help.

Tetsurou turns his attention back to the table and notes the way Koutarou picks up his water to take a sip before he looks ready to answer. The thunk of the cup against the table is maybe the stiffest sound Tetsurou's ever heard.

And then Koutarou speaks and Tetsurou's proven wrong, "I will neither confirm nor deny that allegation."

Which, to anyone familiar with Keiji's and Koutarou, is a dead giveaway to how much time the two spend together, and Tetsurou hides his smile by taking a bite of his mackerel. And wow, if anyone other than Koutarou's father were paying Tetsurou would probably feel guilty because  _ damn  _ that is  _ quality. _

As it is, Tetsurou gets vindictive pleasure from the knowledge this was the most expensive thing on the menu, probably because of the spices.

Scumbag-san's eyebrows knit together in frustration, "Does that mean that it's  _ true _ Koutarou?"

"How would you react if they were?" Tetsurou steps in.

Scumbag-san's hand clenches around the handle of his fork, "I imagine," he says through clenched teeth, and Tetsurou is amazed at how worked up he is at the mere thought of his son being gay. Tetsurou has a new perspective on why Koutarou's mother keeps her partner secret from anyone associated with her former husband, "That there would have to be repercussions, and corrective measures taken."

Conversion therapy.

What kind of fucked up mentality does a parent have to have to send their child to a place that would make them 8 times more likely to commit suicide?

Tetsurou presses his thigh against Koutarou's almost imperceptibly shaking one, and bites down a few choice words.

"What would be the bad part?" Koutarou asks, in the voice that Tetsurou recognizes to be the voice he uses when his brain is a million miles away. Tetsurou isn't sure whether he wants Koutarou to come back down from wherever his mind is, or if he wants Koutarou to stay shielded from his father's words and actions, "That he's a male or that he's from a family you don't approve of?"

"I don't care as much that he's male."

What?

"It's not like a relationship with two people of the same gender will last long anyway."

Tetsurou is forever ready to fight.

"But his family is very... how should I put this?" Scumbag-san's face scrunches up, as though spitting out something disgusting, " _ left leaning _ . Except for his charming grandmother."

By now Tetsurou's eyebrows are raised so high in skepticism they probably look like they're trying to escape his face. Tetsurou turns to Kotarou, 'Is he serious' obvious in his expression, but Koutarou is as closed off as he has been this entire conversation.

Tetsurou takes a sip of his water to refrain from making a comment that would not gain the favor of Scumbag-san (And I assume you're so far right that it's the only thing you can be?), before speaking, "Why would a gay," Scumbag-san flinches,  _ flinches _ , what a horrible man, "Relationship be doomed to fail?" Tetsurou asks, pretending his rage is confusion.

Scumbag-san glares at Tetsurou, as though he's the embodiment of everything he hates.

And, Tetsurou supposes, he kind of is. Although Kenma, with their gender being a factor, would probably be higher on Scumbag-san's shit list.

The feeling is reciprocated.

"Well," Scumbag-san says slowly, as though speaking to a child, "there wouldn't be a woman to even out the man's habits. Who would cook and clean?"

Tetsurou internally bristles, the addition of gender stereotypes to the table was not welcome.

Koutarou stops eating and stares at his plate, as though beginning to gather courage. Tetsurou mentally wills him not to do anything that would get them kicked out, because when he's older and has money he'd like to take them all out on a date here sometime.

 Tetsurou chooses to move the conversation away from the shit hole that it had become, "How's your food?"

"Fine, thank you. How's yours?" Scumbag says, turning back to his soba.

"It's wonderful, thanks."

"Koutarou? You're not eating." Scumbag-san notes.

"The food's wonderful, thank you father." Koutarou says, and then breaks the delicate balance Tetsurou had been maintaining.

Of course, Tetsurou was only maintaining it because Koutarou was the only one who had the rights to break it.

"But your ideals are not."

The words are so calm Tetsurou thinks that if he were a waiter here and passing by he wouldn't find any discrepancies.

Scumbag-san stiffens, and his voice goes dangerously low, "What do you mean by that Koutarou?"

Tetsurou takes a hint and starts packing away his and Koutarou's leftovers.

"I mean," and wow, there's the growl that Koutarou's voice gets when he's worked up, often heard at the end of his 'Hey hey hEY's, "That you're being rude and it's unacceptable."

"Just  _ how _ am I being rude?" Scumbag san seems to miss the growl and intones a warning note in his own words.

"Do you want the list alphabetized?" Koutarou asks, and Tetsurou hides his smirk behind a sip of his water.

Scumbag-san narrows his eyes, and Koutarou takes that as a sign to continue, "Because first there's the way you're treating the Akaashis, who are wonderful by the way, just because they believe that everyone has rights and would probably be very supportive of Keiji."

"Keiji?" Scumbag-san mouths, but Koutarou is nowhere near finished, "Next would probably be the way you think conversion therapy is the right way to go. Which, newsflash," and there's Tetsurou's influence, "is a horrible thing that causes the deaths of many people every year and cures no one of anything, and beside that being lgbt isn't a sickness."

Scumbag-san looks like he's going to argue, but Koutarou gives him no chance to.

"And then there's the way you think any relationship that isn't your same-race same-gender same-world views and same class general mold is doomed to fail,  _ especially _ if it's between two or more people of the same gender. And gender is different than biological sex." Koutarou takes a breath, "And beyond  _ that  _ is the way you so wholeheartedly believe in gender stereotypes when that," Koutarou points to Scumbag-san's soba, "Was probably made by a man, and mom has a job and Tetsurou and I can cook and Keiji's more compassionate than you could ever be."

Scumbag-san is so red at this point that he resembles an enraged tomato, "Koutarou how  _ dare _ -"

"No, how dare  _ you?  _ You're being so obstinate and bigoted and insulting on top of that. You can badmouth me or call me a mistake all you want, but I'm not going to listen to you talk shit about my partners and community like that."

Scumbag-san's mouth opens and closes a few times, and Tetsurou would say that he looked like a fish, but he doesn't want to insult fish like that.

Tetsurou slides out of the booth and holds out a hand that Koutarou high-fives before grabbing it and sliding out of the booth behind Tetsurou.

"Partners!?" Scumbag-san sputters, and stares at their entwined hands.

This time, when they walk through the door, their hands stay together.

\---

Keiji looks up from his book the instant he hears the door open. Kenma has a much slower response time, seeing as they're asleep curled against Keiji's side as he sits on the couch, their breath hot and calming in a rhythm against the crook of his neck, their hands loosely curling around his shirt and tightening whenever Keiji shifts.

They're adorable, and it's the perfect sight to come home to after the whole debacle with Koutarou's dad.

Because, when the four of them are together that's what they are,  _ home _ .

"How'd it go?" Keiji asks, voice even but with an obvious undercurrent of concern.

"All things considered?" Tetsurou replies, and Keiji looks eagerly up at him, "Terrible."

Koutarou groans and takes a seat on the floor, leaning his side into Kenma's legs, reaching up to tangle his fingers with Keiji's.

Tetsurou sets their take-out boxes in the kitchen and walks out to join them, plopping down between Koutarou's spread legs and leaning against him, his head on Kenma's knee.

Keiji makes a noise of sympathy and squeezes Koutarou's hand, moving his shin so that he's touching Tetsurou as well, "What happened?"

Tetsurou winces, “Well first it was super awkward and me being there threw him off,” he begins.

Tetsurou relays the general gist of the conversation, Koutarou jumping in here and there to add details he noticed, and just as he finishes Keiji’s phone rings.

“It’s been doing that every half hour,” Kenma informs them, and they all startle, turning to look at them, “Keiji was waiting for you to get home before he answered.”

Koutarou and Tetsurou turn their gazes to Keiji, and Keiji flushes, reaching for his phone, "I'm going to put the phone on speaker, so don't say anything or make any sound that would indicate you're here please."

The other three nod, and Kenma nuzzles his way back under Keiji's arm as Keiji answers, "Hello."

"Hello Keiji, how's your week been?" Keiji's mother's voice is soft and calm, a soothing sound.

"Fine, thank you mother," Keiji replies, sounding only slightly tense.

"Good!" And then right to the chase, "Your grandmother called."

"Oh?" Keiji asks, sounding disinterested even as he's tensed.

"Indeed. She was going on about... religion?" Keiji relaxes slightly, figuring if she hasn't started yelling yet that's a good sign, "And bringing the gods' wrath upon our family?"

There's a hesitation, before, "She said something about wanting us to disown you, Keiji. What's that about?"

Keiji's throat closes up, and he can't answer.

He imagined that his grandmother would disown him, expected it even.

But he didn't think that he'd have to be the one to come out to his parents.

Tetsurou taps his knee after the silence stretches on long enough for a concerned, "Keiji?" to come through the line, gesturing at the phone.

Keiji nods, and Tetsurou speaks up, "Keiji seems like he's a bit....  _ shocked  _ right now, I can answer your questions."

"What?" Keiji's mother asks, concerned, "Is he okay? Who is this?"

"It's Tetsurou Kuroo, ma'am. Keiji's fine."

"Oh, you're the boy Keiji's staying with, correct?"

"That's me." Tetsurou says, with a glance to Keiji, who seems fine other than the fact that he's shaking as Kenma shifts to fully sit in his lap, holding his hand in theirs while Koutarou moves to sit next to him, pulling both of them close and burying his face into Keiji's hair.

"His grandmother called and she seemed quite concerned about something, and very angry with Keiji, do you have any idea why?"

"I don't know if I'm at liberty to disclose that information." Tetsurou says slowly and carefully, trying to endow meaning into each word,  _ You have to ask him yourself _ .

"Alright." Keiji's mother says, and Tetsurou knows she got it, "Should I call him back later, or will he call me?"

"He'll call you," Tetsurou says after Keiji mouths 'I'll do it'.

And just like that the call ends.

They all stare at the moment, as though waiting for it to make another sound before Tetsurou flops back onto the floor, "Well," he begins, "That was nerve-wracking."

"Yeah," Keiji wheezes, throat beginning to unseize.

"I can't believe your grandmother didn't actually tell your mother what was going on!" Koutarou exclaims incredulously.

"Wanting them to disown you is extreme," Kenma comments.

"Not to mention it's asshole-ish." Tetsurou adds.

"I have to call her back," Keiji whispers, the horror of the situation sinking in, "I have to  _ come out to her _ ."

They collectively wince.

“Well,” Tetsurou says, “What I told myself when I came out to Kou was, ‘If he’s homophobic I shouldn’t miss him too much’. But I know I would’ve missed him anyway. The real meaning of that, I think, was to not have any guilt about separating yourself from homophobic people.” 

“And you have us if they take it badly,” Koutarou agrees, and Kenma nods, stretching up to kiss Keiji’s cheek in support.

\---

Once, when Kenma was young, his father found a doll in his room.

Kenma distinctly remembers the instance, no matter how hard they try to purge it from their memory.

It was a year before they met Tetsurou, and Kenma was a regular four year old. They were speaking small, simple sentences, climbing well enough when they had the interest in it, running, completing simple mazes, having an active imagination, and, of course, asking many questions.

They were playing with a doll he had found somewhere in his room when his father walked in.

"Hey sport! Do you want to-" this is when he spotted the doll in Kenma's hands, being waved around as Kenma obliviously imagines a scenario.

"What is that." Kenma doesn't remember the intonation of the voice, being too young to understand it even if he had picked up on it.

"Superwoman!" Kenma says excitedly, standing and walking over to show his father, who inspects the toy with slightly less contempt now that it's been revealed to be a superhero, a more masculine toy.

But it's not a figurine, it's a  _ doll.  _ And Kenma's father can't have anything that makes his 'son' seem- horror of all horrors, Kenma would roll his eyes looking back on it if it weren't such a horrifying thing in such formative years-  _ gay _ .

And so, Kenma's father waves the toy in Kenma's face as though they were a dog, "You see this, son? This is a  _ doll _ . It's a  _ girls'  _ toy."

Kenma could see what was coming now from the negative feelings in their father's voice, that and happiness being the two intonations they can understand.

"No do-" they begin, reaching for the toy, a moment too late.

Their father takes the toy and breaks it over his knee, popping the head off and tossing it to the ground, where Kenma is stopped from scrambling for it by their father seizing their shoulder, "I'm doing this because I love you, you know that right?"

Kenma stares up at him, uncomprehending, through the tears welling up.

"Good." His father leaves, and Kenma dives to the floor, searching desperately.

Their mother finds them twenty minutes later, clutching the doll's head to their chest as they rock back and forth with a mantra of, “It’s because he loves me.”

Kenma was a lot more withdrawn after that. And they would have been a lot more weary of love as well, if not for Tetsurou.

Where their father’s ‘love’ was brash and hurting and protective, Tetsurou’s was gentle and encouraging and supportive.

Where their father’s love was like a fire, Tetsurou’s is like a calming breath of fresh air, healing and refreshing.

Of course, air only fuels fire.

Kenma’s  _ really _ glad that their mother is no pushover.

\---

Now kind of reminds Kenma of that time, of watching hopeless as something he loves is about to be broken. But there's a difference this time, because Keiji doesn't have to be broken.

Even if his parents don't accept him, Keiji has Koutarou, Tetsurou, and them. And really, that's what matters in the long run.

Having people surrounding you who care for you.

Having a home you made and approve of, instead of one you didn't choose.

And Keiji has that. More than his partners, he has the team next year.

Kenma is sitting with Tetsurou and Koutarou on Tetsurou's bed, waiting for Keiji to unplug his phone after charging it.

Keiji approaches the bed and sits in the square/circle directly across from Kenma, "So, how are we going to go about this?"

"We'll all be here to support you," Koutarou assures.

"And if anything happens one of us will step in," Tetsurou continues, and Kenma gives a bob of their head.

"We're with you, Keiji."

Keiji nods, and dials.

They're all silent as the ringing echos around the room.

“Hello?” It’s Keiji’s father this time, and then there’s some shuffling before his mom speaks up.

“You’re on speaker honey, we’re back at the rental house.”

“Okay, thanks mom,” Keiji’s voice is calm and level even as he fiddles with his fingers anxiously, heart pounding out a rhythm against his ribcage.

“Why did mom want to disown you?” Keiji’s father’s voice held no judgement, only curiosity.

“Probably because she,” Keiji hesitates, this is the moment his parents could hate him, and his thoughts go back to Tetsurou’s words,  _ “You shouldn’t feel any guilt about cutting homophobic people out of your life.” _

Keiji takes a deep breath and rips off the band-aid, “Saw me holding hands,” Keiji pauses again, and Tetsurou reaches over and grabs his hand to give Keiji courage, “with my boyfriend.”

There’s a moment of silence over the phone, before Keiji’s mother excitedly says, “Ohhh Keiji you have a boyfriend!?”

Hearing nothing negative, Keiji smiles, “Yes,”

“Our lovely Keiji is growing up! Did you hear that darling?”

“Congratulations, Keiji! When do we get to meet him?” Keiji’s father asks.

“Right now I suppose,” Keiji says, gesturing to Koutarou to speak up.

“Hello Mrs and Mr Akaashi!” Koutarou says, happy that they’re being so accepting, but nervous about whether or not they would accept Keiji having multiple partners.

“Is that Koutarou?” Keiji’s mother asks, “He’s a fine young man, good choice Keiji!”

Koutarou laughs, “Thank you Akaashi-san! How’s Europe?” 

“It’s been wonderful, thank you for asking!”

Before his mother could go on a well-intentioned rant about how amazing Europe is, Keiji speaks up, “There’s actually more I have to tell you.”

“Oh?” His father asks, as his mother says that Keiji never  _ needs _ to tell them anything he isn’t ready to tell them.

"Koutarou isn't my only partner." Keiji says, just loud enough to be heard, and Tetsurou kisses his hand in a silent gesture of  _ 'We're here for you. _ '

"I don't understand," Keiji's mother says slowly, and Keiji winces, "Are you cheating on Koutarou?"

"No! Nothing like that!" Keiji rushes to correct them.

"I know he has different partners!" Koutarou confirms, "They're my partners as well!"

"Like a poly relationship?" Keiji's father asks, and the four of them exchange glances of surprise.

"Exactly like that." Keiji confirms.

"Are they with you as well?" Keiji's mother asks, and Tetsurou and Kenma exchange nods, and Keiji takes that as the go-ahead.

"Yes, they are." Keiji says, squeezing Tetsurou’s hand and giving Kenma a warm smile.

"Hello, Mr and Mrs Akaashi," Tetsurou says, "We spoke earlier."

"Hello Tetsurou," Keiji's mother says, smile in her voice.

"Hello," Kenma speaks up, voice barely wavering, and Koutarou reaches over to tug them into his side.

"Hello! What's your name?" Keiji's father asks gently.

"Kenma Kozume, they/them." Kenma says, voice more stable.

"Nice to meet you, Kenma," Keiji's mother says, voice warm, "How are you?"

"Really glad you aren't going to disown Keiji." Kenma says, startling a laugh out of them.

"For this? We would never!" Keiji's mother goes on in a mutter, "his grandmother however..."

Kenma smiles, and more pleasantries are exchanged, everyone getting more familiar with each other before, "how did you four get together, anyhow?"

They all look around, and Tetsurou is the one to begin, "Kenma and I are childhood friends, and loving them was easy, natural."

"Sap!" Kenma calls out, and they all laugh, mostly because he  _ absolutely _ is.

"Then I went on to high school, where I went to a training camp and met Koutarou," Tetsurou grins at Koutarou as he says this, "and fell in love with his big hair."

Koutarou laughs and Kenma interrupts, "He came home and had a huge gay crisis."

"Kenma!" Tetsurou puts a hand to his heart, acting betrayed, "But yeah, anyway, I asked Koutarou out at the next training camp."

At this point keiji's father interrupts, "Training camp? Do you all play volleyball?"

"Yeah," Tetsurou says offhandedly.

"Fun!"

"It's great!" Tetsurou agrees, before continuing, "And Koutarou comes over to spend a week at my house, where he meets Kenma and gets a crush. Then next year Kenma and Keiji join the teams and after the next training camp Keiji and Koutarou both come over for a week."

"And on the train ride we basically all admitted we like Kenma!" Koutarou cuts in, and Kenma flushes.

"Then at Kenma's house they confessed to me, and the next day we all understood each other's feelings and got together." Keiji finishes.

"Wow! So it's been nearly a year." Keiji's mother notes, and they all shrug at each other.

"I suppose it has."

 And they'll be together for many more.

\---

It goes like this:

Keiji goes to meet with his parents at the airport, and when they come out he's almost as nervous as when they first called.

They walk over and hug Keiji, and then his partners, one by one.

It's a very significant gesture of acceptance and approval, and Keiji finds himself tearing up a bit.

It goes like this:

Keiji loves Koutarou, Kenma and Tetsurou.

It's reaffirmed with every touch, every look, every smile.

His love for them is like an ocean, swelling with a new wave of affection every few seconds.

The feeling is only increased by time and distance, an undercurrent to every moment.

It goes like this:

Keiji wouldn’t change his life for the world.

**Author's Note:**

> The only reason I even bothered to post this instead of just leaving it on my shop is for comments so please comment


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